


Hearts Will Be Glowing (When Loved Ones Are Near)

by Aerica_Menai



Category: Leverage
Genre: Baking, Celebrations, Christmas Fluff, Eliot's love language is food, Multi, Parker's Birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27919195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aerica_Menai/pseuds/Aerica_Menai
Summary: Hardison wants to surprise Parker with cookies for Christmas, but Eliot ends up having to step in and help. Cue Parker realizing Eliot can bake, Hardison realizing he's made a big mistake, and Eliot grumpily laying down the law. Aka adorable baking shenanigans and nutrition lessons <3
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	Hearts Will Be Glowing (When Loved Ones Are Near)

**Author's Note:**

> Just some adorable fluff for the holidays! Hope you enjoy :)
> 
> Beta'd by the ever fabulous and amazing @grayraincurtain <3
> 
> Title from It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Andy Williams

It was a couple days before Christmas, and Parker was out meeting Peggy for lunch. Hardison uprooted his baking supplies from where he had hidden them from Parker’s sight and collected them on the kitchen counter. He rubbed his hands together gleefully. His Nana’s sugar cookie recipe looked easy enough – perfect for a beginner; Parker was going to love her surprise gift. 

*~*

Eliot was awakened by a loud sneeze, a crash and a string of swears. Groaning, he sat up on the couch – only to see a guilty Hardison freeze in place, himself and most of the kitchen space painted with a dusting of white. …Was that flour? “Hardison, what the hell?”

“Do – do not be alarmed, this – I prepared extra ingredients in case this happened, just – just go back to sleep!” Hardison called frantically as he shook off most of the flour and ran for the vacuum. He was leaving a trail of footprints behind him, Eliot quietly noticed – but he also saw Hardison making sure to vacuum them up on his way back towards the kitchen, so that was fine. He could go back to sleep and let Hardison try again.

*~*

The second crashing sound was much louder, and Eliot rocketed upwards – only to see…no one in the kitchen? Ah, there was Hardison’s hand holding…mushed cookie dough balls? The pan must have fallen. Whatever, not his problem.

*~*

The third time there was a loud sound from the kitchen, Eliot was almost expecting it. He peeked over the couch back to see Hardison biting his lip and holding his hand under running water in the sink. “Hardison, what did you do this time?” Eliot asked gruffly. 

“Man, do NOT mess with me right now, I burned myself on the pan and dropped the finally almost finished cookies. Dammit, I – I have to finish this before Parker gets back, and this is my last batch of ingredients – if I screw this one up, I don’t know what I’m going to do!”

“Dammit, Hardison,” Eliot sighed as he came over. “What are you even trying to make?”

Hardison brightened. “You know those cute Christmas sugar cookies, in all the fun shapes? My Nana used to make them, she sent me the recipe – and I thought I’d make them for Parker’s present, but…” He gestured helplessly at the depleted baking supplies. “I don’t remember it being this hard, man!”

Eliot sighed. “Well, now that you’ve been taken out of commission,” he glanced meaningfully at Hardison’s hand in the sink, “I guess I can take over.”

Hardison blinked at him. “…Excuse me?”

Eliot glared. “What, you thought I couldn’t bake? Watch and learn.”

*~*

Hardison moaned as he bit into the almost-cooled cookie. “Holy crap, Eliot, these are better than my Nana’s ever were! How – ” 

Eliot scowled as he started mixing the chocolate icing. “I’m not telling you! Maybe, next year, if you ask nicely, I’ll show you. For now, stop eating the cookies – I thought they were for Parker!” He slapped Hardison’s hand away. “Help me make this icing, if you need something to do.”

*~*

Parker was absolutely delighted to open her Christmas present: sugar cookies in festive shapes and piled high with chocolate icing. “Hardison, thank you!” she squealed delightedly, jumping into his arms and peppering him with kisses.

“While – I – appreciate – the – thanks,” Hardison spoke breathlessly between kisses, “I – can’t – take – all – the – credit.” 

Parker stopped and leaned back a little, cocking her head questioningly. 

Hardison smiled at her. “While it was my idea, I couldn’t have made it happen without Eliot. I think he deserves some thanks too,” he added wickedly.

“Hardison, why would you – no,” Eliot growled as Parker turned and lunged for him over the couch. “I’m good, no need for any of – that,” he grunted as Parker tackled him in a full-body hug. 

“Thanks Eliot!” she chirped before escaping with her prize.

“Did you really have to tell her that, man?” Eliot groaned from the floor.

Hardison smiled down at him. “Yes, yes I did. You deserve some recognition for your amazing skills!”

Eliot picked himself off the floor. “I really, really don’t,” he muttered, giving an “oomph” as Hardison glomped him. 

“Happy Holidays, you Grinch!” Hardison couldn’t help laughing at Eliot’s grimace.

“Yeah, yeah, you too,” Eliot mumbled halfheartedly before prying Hardison off and practically fleeing the living room.

Parker popped her head out from her room. “Hey, did you want some of these?”

“Aw, hell yeah!” 

*~*

Eliot was going to kill Hardison. Now that Parker knew he could bake, she would. Not. Leave. Him. Alone. Always asking him to make her this or that dessert – which, look, if she wanted anything that was actual food instead of pure sugar? He was happy to make it for her (with his usual grumbling, sure, but that was just what he did). But the sugary stuff – Eliot remembered how…energetic Parker had gotten after the Chocolate Festival that one time, and he was not about to let that happen again, outside of special occasions. Holidays were special occasions; every other day was not. 

Hardison had folded and tried to help her make her begged-for dessert-of-the-day once; the resulting chaos had taught Parker that while Hardison was willing, he really wasn’t all that capable. Which only focused her efforts entirely on Eliot from then on. 

Eliot had been holding firm. He was not going to be the reason that Parker was bouncing off the walls even more than she already was, trying to convince him to help her. If she wanted food, he would make her food; but desserts were off the table. Completely.

…Except for special occasions. The next of which wasn’t for a while, as he kept telling Parker – not that she was listening. 

Eliot was going to kill Hardison.

*~*

Hardison was starting to fear for his life. Parker wasn’t giving up on convincing Eliot to bake for her, and based on the metaphorical (…for now) daggers that Eliot kept throwing his way, Hardison was being blamed for it. Which…to be fair, Parker would have been bugging *him* about baking for her if Hardison hadn’t spilled the beans about Eliot being the one to bake the cookies…

Maybe Eliot had a point. Which left Hardison with one question – how was he going to get Parker off Eliot’s back without making her his enemy? More importantly, how was he going to do it without letting her actually consume too much sugar…

Ooh. Hardison may not have been not a great baker, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t have *some* experience making food – dessert, even – from when he was part of the older pack of Nana’s kids. Something like that would be a good peace offering.

*~*

The next day, Parker heard Hardison rattling around in the kitchen. And not his usual in-and-out retrieval of food or soft drinks either; Hardison clearly had a goal.

So she decided to go and see what he was up to. And apparently the source of his being in the kitchen was…apples? Four or five apples were on the counter, along with some nuts, a stick of butter, brown sugar and a square dish.

Hardison lit up when he saw her. “Perfect timing! C’mere, I wanna show you something.”

Parker perched on the island across from where Hardison had set up.

“One of the kids at Nana’s was a sugar fiend – a bit like you, actually,” Hardison teased lightly. “And eventually Nana put her foot down and cut down on his sugar intake, hard. But – only the really-bad-for-you, overly processed stuff. She was happy to make stuff with more natural ingredients – and his favorite was baked apples. You ever had those?”

Parker shook her head.

Hardison grinned. “Oh man, you have been missing out. But, no longer! We’re going to make baked apples today – and let me tell you, this is so easy even I can do it. Ready?”

Parker hopped off the counter and bounced to stand next to him. “Ready!”

“Alright, first step is to core the apples…”

*~*

Eliot walked into a kitchen that smelled overwhelmingly of caramelized sugar. “Hardison…” he growled as he stalked into the kitchen and caught sight of Hardison and Parker, frozen with pieces of apple on their forks. “Explain!” he barked.

“Apples! Just apples, some butter, some sugar – we even added some nuts to up the nutritional factor – ” 

Eliot held up a hand and Hardison immediately fell silent. “Baked apples?”

Hardison nodded.

Eliot broke out into a grin. “Not bad. But amateur hour, if you’re going for healthy desserts. I’ve got a healthy chocolate mousse recipe that’ll knock your socks off.”

Parker bounced in place, eyes sparkling. “That sounds AMAZING! Why didn’t you ever mention that before??”

Eliot sighed. “Darlin’, how would you have reacted to me telling you that I could make you a dessert that was healthy for you before today?”

Parker pouted as Hardison nodded knowingly. 

“But now that you know firsthand that sometimes healthy desserts – or at least, healthier desserts – can be just as good, I can make it for you and you can see what you think,” Eliot continued. “But. I still don’t want you overindulging on this stuff, alright? This is not an everyday thing.”

Parker nodded excitedly, beaming smile on her face.

“Alright, enjoy this for tonight, and I’ll make the mousse in a couple days,” Eliot waved as he continued to his room, leaving the other two to continue devouring their treat. 

*~*

When Eliot was ready to make the chocolate mousse, he shooed Hardison and Parker out of the kitchen. “This is pretty easy to make, and I don’t want either of you getting any ideas about making it yourself and overdoing it, alright?” he grumbled. “No peeking or otherwise trying to spy on what I’m doing – ” He glared particularly hard at Hardison. “Or else there will be consequences. Am I clear?” Hardison saluted and Parker rolled her eyes and huffed. 

“Fine,” she grumbled, “we’ll stay out of the kitchen.”

Eliot smiled. “It’ll be worth it darlin’, just wait.”

And she had to admit, after getting to taste Eliot’s concoction, it was pretty amazing – even worth the indignity of getting kicked out of the kitchen. 

*~*

Now that Parker was more open to adding fruits and other healthier sugars into her diet, Eliot started making fruit pancakes in the morning – blueberry and banana were the most common, but sometimes Parker or Hardison would suggest other fruit to try, and Eliot would either try it or shoot it down (although mostly the former).

…The only thing that bothered Eliot about pancake days was Hardison’s odd habit of slathering peanut butter on his pancakes instead of syrup, like Parker. 

Syrup – at least, the syrup that Eliot provided – was all-natural and, when doled out by Eliot, at least not consumed in overwhelming amounts.

Hardison’s peanut butter, on the other hand, only barely deserved the label “peanut butter,” due to all the excess sugar and chemicals pumped into each bottle.

One day, Eliot finally snapped. “You know that stuff is absolute crap, right?” he growled as Hardison started smearing a spoonful on the morning’s pancakes – banana, his favorite.

“Excuse me? Are you referring to this lovely, creamy substance I’m trying to apply to my pancakes despite your interruption?” Hardison asked snarkily before digging in.

Eliot swiped the container, ignoring Hardison’s muffled “Hey!” of protest. 

“If I can find another brand with fewer ingredients, a good consistency and an equal if not better taste, will you let me throw out this garbage?” Eliot asked in disgust.

Hardison swallowed his mouthful and gasped. “Bite your tongue,” he cried, “there’s no such thing!”

Eliot smirked. “Is that a yes?”

Hardison stared at the jar in Eliot’s hands, weighing his options. “Fine,” he finally growled, swiping the container back. “You have a month. And,” he continued triumphantly, “if you can’t, not only do I get to keep eating my delicious peanut butter but also you have to let me drink as much orange soda as I want for the next month!”

Eliot’s smirk was decidedly shark-like. “Deal.”

*~*

Hardison should have known that Eliot had something up his sleeve, but he had agreed to the deal in good faith.

“This stuff is too sticky,” Hardison tried to protest of the – admittedly – amazing peanut butter his resident nutritionist had unearthed. “And it takes too long to make a new jar edible.”

“I like it a lot more!” Parker piped up, and Eliot smiled proudly and patted her shoulder. 

“See, Hardison? Parker likes it better.”

“That’s playing dirty,” Hardison moaned as Parker and Eliot both turned to him with matching hopeful glances. “Fine,” he finally grumbled, “fine! You win. This peanut butter does taste better than the other stuff,” he sighed.

Eliot beamed and took out the remaining jar of the old peanut butter. “You can finish off the jar, but no buying more, alright?” 

“Deal,” Hardison immediately agreed, making grabby hands.

*~*

And once healthier peanut butter was in the pantry, Eliot was quick to introduce Parker to the concept of mixing peanut butter with fruit – apples and bananas, mainly, but at least it upped her fruit intake.

Eliot was out the one time Hardison was absentminded enough to try topping dark chocolate squares with some dollops of peanut butter, but Parker was not – and it was a bit of a battle to pry the dark chocolate (both what Hardison had snuck in and her own constantly-appearing supply) out of her sticky fingers for the first couple days.

Eventually she calmed down enough that Eliot could have a stern talking-to with her about eating responsibly and healthily (mixed with plenty of threats about disappearing recipes and being an uncooperative chef in the future), and Parker cut her daily chocolate dose down to a couple times a week at most; still higher than Eliot would prefer, but within a far more acceptable range.

*~*

When Parker’s birthday was coming up (or at least, the day she claimed was her birthday; the boys weren’t actually all that sure), Hardison and Eliot started trying to – subtly – make plans. They knew Parker wouldn’t want too much of a fuss over it, but a birthday dessert was an absolutely must. 

“Definitely a cake,” Eliot muttered, “but what kind?”

“Or,” Hardison suggested, hit with a brilliant idea, “what if we *both* made her something? Hear me out,” he rushed on when Eliot turned to face him, glare already building. “Look, you can make her something more – more complicated, maybe one of those sugar-overload ones she was bringing up before. I, on the other hand, can make her a Funfetti cake!”

Eliot sighed. “Seriously? Funfetti?”

“Hey, lots of Nana’s kids wanted Funfetti cakes, they were a birthday staple – and it’s a box mix, even I can do one of those!”

Eliot grumbled but conceded the point. “Any suggestions for what you think I should make?”

Hardison gave him a wicked grin. “Ever heard of seven layer bars?”

“No?”

Hardison’s grin got wider. “Parker’ll love them.”

“…They’ve got enough sugar in them to sink a ship, don’t they?”

“Basically pure sugar, man,” Hardison confirmed. “But she’ll love them.”

Eliot groaned. “Only this once! And you are going to back me up on that!” He waved a spatula threateningly in Hardison’s direction.

Hardison threw a sloppy salute. “Sir yes sir!”

“Stow the bullshit and show me the recipe,” Eliot grumbled.

*~*

Parker was over the moon when she realized that her birthday meant she was getting two different desserts on the same night. “This might be better than Christmas,” she breathed as she stared hungrily at the feast Eliot had laid out – all of Parker’s favorites from the restaurant, with the two desserts sitting in the center of the table. 

Hardison and Eliot exchanged looks behind her back – Hardison’s triumphant, Eliot’s conciliatory. “Hardison’s idea to double up on desserts, darlin’ – and he made the cake entirely on his own.”

Hardison puffed up at the praise and easily accepted the sudden armful of Parker. “Thank you,” she mumbled happily into his neck. 

“Of course, babe,” he replied happily. “Birthdays are supposed to be special.”

“Yeah, don’t expect this more than once a year,” Eliot grumbled as he started to make plates of food for all three of them. “And you have to eat at least one full plate of food before you can start digging into either dessert!”

“We got it, no worries,” Hardison reassured Eliot as Parker pouted, but nodded her agreement as well.

Their plates were quickly devoured and soon Parker was clapping excitedly as Eliot started cutting up and serving portions of the cake and the bars.

“Best birthday *ever,*” she moaned as she took her first bite of the seven layer bars. “What’s even in these??”

“Way too much,” Eliot grumped. “Can’t believe I let Hardison talk me into making these diabetes bars…”

Parker leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. “I know, but I love you for making them anyway.”

Eliot blushed and muttered, “Birthdays should be special; glad we could make sure you enjoyed this one.”

Parker grinned. “Your birthdays are going to be *amazing!*”

Hardison and Eliot exchanged wary but fond glances; their birthdays were definitely going to be...interesting going forward, but it was so very worth it.


End file.
